The Soviet submarine S-6 which disappeared on patrol in September, 1941 was been identified on the floor of the Baltic by the Swedish military. The submarine was found southeast of the Baltic island of Oland, in what was, during the war, a heavily-mined area known as the ‘Wartburg minefield’.

The wreck was first reported by civilian divers during the summer months in the middle of this year. In the following months, Swedish submarine salvage ship HMS Belos confirmed the find and photographed it, the military said.

Swedish authorities have now informed Russia of the find in order to give family members and the Russian navy the opportunity to conduct a memorial ceremony at the site.

The S-6 was a diesel-electric attack submarine which belonged to the S-class of vessels nicknamed the Stalinets or ‘follower of Stalin’.

She was laid down on December 28, 1935, at shipyard in Stalingrad and put afloat on March 31, 1938. The submarine measured 77.80m long, had a crew of 50 men, was armed with 12 torpedoes and had a top speed of 19.5 nkots on the surface or 9 knots submerged.

On August 2, 1941, the submarine started on her last deployment to Bornholm Island when her contact was lost.

S-class boats were the most successful for Russia during World War Two. In total, they sank 82,770 gross register tons of merchant shipping and seven warships.

That accounted for around one-third of all tonnage sunk by Soviet submarines during the war. Several Soviet submarines sunk during World War Two have been found in Swedish waters over the years. In June 2009, divers found the wreck of the S-2, another Soviet sub sunk by mines in January 1940 with some 50 crew members on board, in waters further north between Sweden and Finland.